Bricks and Boondoggles

My local town purchased an old building to become a new "civic center".  There are only about 6,000 residents in our town, and the majority of those people do not own their homes.  They are property renters, which means that they vote but do not directly pay property taxes to the municipality.  Our town sometimes falls prey to the idea that because something is a nice idea that we must spend taxpayer money on it.  I highly differ.
When it comes to this civic center, it was a boondoggle from the beginning.  It was an old building owned by the American Legion.  Well, the leader of that post is now on our town council.  The woman who was leading the charge to purchase the building and renovate it is also now on the town council.  At least the building was purchased by the town prior to her being elected.
The problem is that we already have a civic center building for public use.  We also have an unused Lion's Club building in town.
The idea was to get private donations to renovate the building.  The building cost the town $60,000 and the renovation to make it usable was going to be $300,000.  Private donations were never going to cover the cost.  So what do fundraising leaders do?  They look to handouts from government grants, of course.  What does an empty building in a rural town have to do with the USDA?  Why are our federal tax dollars funding a civic center in Podunk, NC?  What business is it of taxpayers in Arkansas or California to help fund a boondoggle project in Selma?  The only positive side to this is that it was not a loan, so we are not being taxed on the front end to supply the funding by the federal government and taxed locally on the back end to repay the loan.
Well, the fundraising is not quite over yet.  The town is still taking donations/purchases of bricks to fund the project further.  I have purchased a brick to pave a veterans' memorial before, and they were about one fourth the cost of what the town is asking.  But, IF the town is willing to take my $100 to engrave the brick I want to purchase with the message I want, I am willing to buy one before the upcoming deadline.

Mortgage bail out bothers me as a matter of fairness as well as legality

I have written about this before and I probably will again. I am tremendously bothered by the idea that the federal government is about to bail out mortgage lenders and mortgage payers. I busted my tail to get good enough credit and income to be able to have a house. I did not buy more house than I could afford. I settled for a house that was within my desired price range and within the quality, size, and comfort levels I desired. Overall, I have been happy with that decision and I have never failed to be able to pay my mortgage as a result. As with any older home, there are things I have needed to dump money into for repairs and improvements. I would obviously prefer not to have to pay the money for such, but that is part of home ownership.

Neal Boortz wrote about this very concept this morning on his news page. It echoes my sentiments.

ANOTHER GUMMIT BAILOUT

This one could cost $25 billion, but what the hell. Actually ... that's a minimum estimate. Some analysts think the mortgage bail-out that Bush is oh-so-eagerly going to sign this week could cost $300 billion. The politicians who curry favor and buy votes with this money don't have to worry about where the money comes from. They're going to be long-gone when the bill comes due. They only have to worry about doing what they need to do to buy votes so they can enjoy the prestige and privileges of power until that time.

Who are these people who are going to be bailed out?

* People who knew they were buying more house than they could afford, and who thought that they would be bailed out by rising equity.
* People who got home loans in spite of bad credit ratings ... loans spurred by media and government anguish over the unavailability of home loans to bad credit risks.
* People who bought the house, took out the loan, and moved on in knowing full well that they wouldn't be able to make the payments when the interest rates went up. But what the hell .. they would just ride the cheap rates until then, and throw in the keys.

Yes...I know that there were some bad actors in the mortgage business. There are bad actors in every business. Me, for instance. But I can remember a dozen or so years ago when almost every major newspaper in the country was running investigative reports on the evils of the mortgage business. These reports told us that these evil mortgage companies were not doing enough to bring the American dream of home ownership to poorer people. The nasty mortgage lenders were actually using criteria such as income, job stability, credit ratings, loan-to-value ratio and other anti-inclusive measurements to intentionally keep minorities, single women and other poor, poor pitiful victims out of the home market. So --- before the feds stepped in and made them do it – the evil mortgage lenders started lending to people that should be renting. And here we are.

Remember...over 95% of the people in this country with home loans are making those payments each and every month. So what kind of crisis is this really? Can't it be said we're weeding out the chaff here?

It is NOT the job of the taxpayers of this nation to bail out those who have taken bad financial decisions in life. It is not my fault that others have taken loans they can not repay. It is not my fault that some people were stupid enough to take variable interest rate loans and are now paying the price for that stupidity. It is not my fault that people got mortgages that they had no intention of being able to repay over the long haul. It is not my fault or the fault of the rest of the tax payers who are or have been faithful in paying for our homes. Not only that, I do not recall any provision in the Constitution that would allow Congress or the President to spend taxpayer money on any such thing.

This is just another boondoggle in which we are getting screwed by our elected officials so that they can look like the knight in shining armor that came to the defense of the average citizen. No, they are the thieves who took from the average citizen and gave the collective wealth to corporations that should never have undertaken such bad business decisions and to other citizens who should never have been allowed to get such risky loans to begin with. Were it not for threats of government action to begin with, the mortgage companies probably would never have underwritten such loans.

We have the largest budget in world history. We have an unfathomable amount of national debt. We have spending on special interest projects that do not benefit the public good. We waste more money than some nations have as a GDP. We have confiscatory taxation levels that would cause a tea party and disgust the Founding Fathers. Quite frankly, I am sick of it all. Unfortunately, I see no end in sight. The world's system is corrupting our government and bankrupting our nation.

Here is a news article on the pending bail out. Bend over, grab ankles.

The measure, regarded as the most significant housing legislation in decades, lets homeowners who cannot afford their payments refinance into more affordable government-backed loans rather than losing their homes.

It offers a temporary financial lifeline to troubled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- pillars of the home loan market whose losses have sparked investor fears -- and tightens controls over the two government-sponsored businesses.

Furthermore, the article states:

The legislation overhauls the Depression-era FHA. It requires lenders to show how high a borrower's payment could get under the terms of his mortgage. It provides $180 million in pre-foreclosure counseling for struggling homeowners.

The Treasury Department gains unlimited power, until the end of 2009, to lend money to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or buy their stock should they need it. The Federal Reserve takes on a new "consultative" role overseeing the companies.

The measure includes $15 billion in tax cuts, including a significant expansion of the low-income housing tax credit and a credit of up to $7,500 for first-time home buyers for houses purchased between April 9, 2008, and July 1, 2009.

This is just unfair to others who have been faithful in their mortgage payments and the tax payers who have to foot the bill. This sucks royally.

They may be "grants", but still our tax dollars.

From the WTSB web site:

$850,000 Grant Will Help Rehabilitate Selma Homes, Streets
Selma town officials learned Thursday they were the recipients of a $850,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). Selma was one of 18 communities across the state Governor Mike Easley said would share more than $13.7 million for community revitalization, infrastructure improvements and the construction of affordable housing. In Selma, Town Manager Stan Farmer said their funds would be used for rehabilitation of housing and paving on South Sharpe and South Webb Streets. Work in the area should be completed in no more than 30 months, Farmer said. Other grants went to the cities of Oxford, Lumberton, Tabor City, Lexington, Rockingham, Raeford, Washington, and Conover. CDBG funding is allocated to the state from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The N.C. Department of Commerce’s Division of Community Assistance administers the program for the state.

Here is my commentary. First, perhaps we would have more ability to do things locally if the federal and state governments did not siphon off so much money into Washington, DC. Second, even though these are "grants", they are still coming from tax dollars. Furthermore, the purpose of the grants are to be for "rehabilitation of housing" and the construction of "affordable housing". The term affordable is subjective. The idea of my tax dollars being taken from me, a man who works a full time, skilled labor job, on the threat of force if I do not comply voluntarily to dole out my hard earned money, and having those dollars inefficiently laundered through the world's largest bureaucracy only to be filtered down to another bureaucracy, then to another, then to private citizens for them to pay minimal money for housing or to renovate their existing homes is just plain repugnant. It is insulting. It is unfair. It is a disincentive to succeed. It is anti-Biblical. It is communistic and evil.

The article from WTSB listed a few other towns that also got grants. Multiply this times hundreds or thousands of towns across the country and you can see how our tax dollars are being wasted on programs that are not even supposed to exist. Take this program and multiply it by the countless such programs that some communistic or ignorant fools have pushed through Congress, and some well meaning but selfish President who wants to get re-elected and play politics with our tax money have passed, and the amount of money is mind boggling.

I just got this in an email today. It puts things into perspective. Government waste like this costs us billions of dollars every year.

This is too true to be very funny.

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the politicians spending YOUR tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division...

Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the
Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans.

Interesting number. What does it mean?

A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528.

B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787 for repairs.

C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington , D.C .. HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken??

Tax his land,
Tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes is the rule.
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirts,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.
Tax his booze,
Tax his beers,
If he cries,
Tax his tears.
Tax his bills,
Tax his gas,
Tax his notes,
Tax his cash.
Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.
If he hollers,
Tax him more,
Tax him until he's good and sore.
Tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.
Put these words upon his tomb,
'Taxes drove me to my doom!'
And when he's gone,
We won't relax,
We'll still be after the inheritance TAX!!

We have:
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Perm it Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What happened? Can you spell "politicians!" And I still have to 'press 1' for English.

How about this one, from the same day's news, the same source:

Pine Level Fire Department Receives $38,000 From FEMA
The US Department of Homeland Security announced Friday that the Pine Level Fire Department will receive $38,000 for operations and safety. The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG), administered through FEMA, funds local fire departments and emergency medical service organizations. The Dunn and Henderson Fire Departments were awarded $261,250 each for vehicle acquisition.

Like I said, multiply the dollar figures found here times thousands of towns across the nation. Can you see where we as a nation are over taxing, wasting, then over spending?

I just had this conversation with someone today via email. We were discussing this picture. My female friend said:

My point is that was 1955 & this is 2008. A lot of things have changed since then, like women don’t do things like that now.

I said:

In 1955, most women did stay at home and take care of the kids and do the house work. Unfortunately, our tax burden increased substantially necessitating a dual income family. Also, the women's liberation movement only hurt the family structure. The 1960's forward really hurt with the hedonism, atheistic, and hyper libertine agendas. That led to a decline in the family unit, an emphasis on self reliance instead of family reliance, a rise in births out of wedlock, single parent families, divorce, and the need for women to work outside the home.

I value women highly, contrary to the accusations of my critics. I value them so highly, in fact, that I desire for them to do exactly what they were created and given the instinct to do. That is their high calling in the Kingdom. And nothing is more sexy or lovely to see than a woman doing exactly what she was created to do.

And it is the government's job to pay for people to watch TV WHY???

I disagree with the federal government's decision to make analog TV a thing of the past. I disagree even more with spending our tax dollars on the purchasing of converter boxes for people to use to watch TV. This is NOT a function of the government and it is an illegal use of our tax money. Nobody ever reads the Constitution any more, apparently.

From The N&O. Click on the link for the full story.

Millions of older and disabled Americans in nursing and adult-care homes are excluded from a government program that helps people convert their TV sets to receive a new digital signal next year.

The reason? A federal program that pays for digital converter boxes for older televisions -- necessary when all TV broadcasting goes digital early next year -- specifically requires recipients to live in a "household" as recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau.

And speaking of alternative fuels development in NC...

From The News and Observer:

The Biofuels Center of North Carolina has started working toward new sources of energy that can be grown in the state.

The General Assembly created the biofuels center last year and gave $5 million to start the project. The group held its first meeting last week and is adding research staff from across the biofuels industry.

Officials with the center said North Carolina imports about 5.6 billion gallons of petroleum-based liquid fuels into the state each year. The center has one goal: to ensure that a decade from now, 10 percent of the liquid fuels sold in North Carolina are grown and produced in the state.

Biofuels center president John Ganzi said that North Carolina is well-position to develop biofuels because it is a leader in biotechnology and agriculture.

Your tax dollars hard at work...argh!!!